morning meds

[brenzgrove]

Hi everyone.

I've been at my job almost 2 months now (medical floor, lots of renal patients).

I have a major problem with my 8am meds. It is taking me almost an hour and a half to pass them out. I was told that this is normal on a very busy day i.e. short staffed and so on. But that normally it should only take one hour. I can almost always start by 7:45, sometimes even 7:30. but i am never able to take first break (8:30 ish). I feel like I might soon begin to irritate people due to the shuffling of breaks to accomodate my slowness.

Can anyone offer advice or recommend any safe short cuts?

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

Its a little hard to judge why you feel you are slow. Depending on how you pass meds, meaning if you take the cart with you, do you run each individual patients meds from the nurses station, how your meds are packaged and so on can make a big difference in time management.

Its also early on in your position, so ask others what they do to expidite med passes if you feel they are doing something different to accomodate the clock. Never be afraid to ask for suggestions.

[BarbPick]

I would combine as many meds as possible, and give the 8's and 10's at 9 am

[moonshadeau, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, APN, NP, CNS]

Break? Morning Break? What is that? Where do you work to get a morning break?

Safe shortcuts? I do agree with the combo times of 7, 8, 9 all at once as long as you consider what the med is, why is it timed that way, does it have any potential interactions with other meds?

If all else fails, ask for help. If the other nurses really want to get their break on time, they will be glad to help.

[CCU NRS]

is very important in nursing. I honestly feel that a lot of the probelms some peopel have are related to time management. This issue sounds like you may be a very studious nurse attempting to do everything in the right way but I would have to actually be there to jdge if you use effective time management. It is something you will probably ahve to work on and work out with time.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I just can't see myself being ready to take a break at 830, no matter how few meds needed to be passed. I'm assuming you'd have to do at least a partial assessment on each person, like vital signs, before giving them. You could give meds ordered "daily" at a later time if that is OK with the unit. We have our major med pass at 9am, with shift change at 7am. When I worked days I didn't plan on getting a break until 1pm. Especially hard if docs show up in the morning and start changing orders.